Search age:

Search in:

Would you like E.coli with that?

Better safe than sorry ... leftovers belong in the bin after four hours out of the fridge. Photo: Marina Oliphant

It’s a summer lunch with friends at your place and a few uneaten prawns have lingered for an hour or so on the table – do you toss them into a salad later or toss them in the bin?

Perishable food is generally considered safe for up to two hours out of the fridge - and out of direct sunlight – but between two and four hours becomes a food safety grey zone.

"Food safety is a lot about risk management."

“A lot depends on the prawns’ history before it got to your table – like how carefully were they stored by the retailer or how long were they out of the fridge before you got them home,” says Juliana Madden, Executive Officer of the Australian Food Safety Council.

After two hours is where you have to start making decisions depending on the food, how it’s been handled, whether it will be reheated before serving again, and who’s going to eat it, she says.

Advertisement

“Are they among the people who are more vulnerable to food poisoning like young children, older people, pregnant women or anyone whose immunity is compromised by illness? Food safety is a lot about risk management. Decisions about whether a food is safe after being out of refrigeration for more than two hours should be made on the basis of the risk factors.”

But after four hours out of the fridge, the bin is the only place it belongs.

“We’d avoid a lot of decisions about Christmas leftovers - and a lot of waste – if we did more planning before we shop. There’s a tendency to panic buy too much perishable food. It’s better to take a deep breath and figure out how much food you really need – if you’re having prawns and a ham, do you really need turkey too?” she says.

With Christmas ham, there was a time when people would still be eating it at Easter, but some modern cured hams have less salt than in the past and don’t keep as long, so you need to treat them with respect, Madden adds.

Her advice is to follow the manufacturers’ instructions on keeping time, but if you’re in doubt any ham in the fridge after four or five days should be divided into portions and frozen. As a guesstimate, most other leftovers should be okay for up to three days, providing they’ve been handled safely and the fridge is at 5 degrees C or below.

Food poisoning cases spike in the holiday season. The distraction of extra people over Christmas and New Year makes it easy to forget that food has overstayed its time out of the fridge. The weather is hotter and fridges, overloaded with perishables and more frequently opened and shut, struggle to keep food at a safe temperature. Madden suggests a fridge thermometer to check that the fridge is cold enough. Making perishables the last things you pick up in the supermarket and carrying them home in an insulated bag makes sure they’re as fresh as possible – even if you’re not driving far, traffic snarls or stopping for petrol can keep food out of the fridge for a long time.

If it sounds like health authorities are pickier about food safety than in the past, it’s because we cook and eat differently. Compared to previous generations we tend to eat more food that’s raw, or lightly cooked - and more food that’s travelled long distances – so we need to be cautious, especially in summer, Madden points out.

Australia’s food safety record is good – but although we’ve been spared the outbreaks among salad vegetables like baby spinach and tomatoes that have occurred in the US, for instance, we still need to wash vegetables before use. Because these foods are handpicked they can carry germs like E. coli that can cause food poisoning, she adds. You can’t assume everyone who handles your food between harvest and checkout has squeaky clean hands, and while you’d think bugs might move on after a day or so, moist conditions like humid air or storage in plastic bags can help them thrive.

But while how we shop, cook and store food make a difference so do our hands.

16 comments so far

Please stop the food hygiene hysteria, life comes with risks, deal with it. On the other hand, if you eat prawns you get what you deserve. Euurggh horrible disgusting things prawns.

Commenter

No prawns

Date and time

December 28, 2011, 11:21AM

Where is the hysteria? I don't see it. It's just an article with some good advice. And yes, life comes with risks but you don't go and stand in the middle of a 4 lane free way do you?

Commenter

Paul

Location

Brisbane

Date and time

December 28, 2011, 2:19PM

You are right that there are many examples of hygiene hysteria in this world:

Pregnant women are made to fear fresh food, raw dairy products are needlessly banned, and home-baked cakes are even outlawed in some nursing homes.

However, taking aim at an article reminding us to not expose our uneaten leftovers to spoilage is perhaps a misdirection of passion?

Commenter

Gordon Rouse

Location

Yinnar South

Date and time

December 28, 2011, 8:18PM

I once came home from nightshift absolutely ravenous, opened the fridge, and found some prawns. I cooked them up with some chilli and garlic and they were absolutely delicious! I told my boyfriend this later on in the day and his face dropped - he had been using them as fishing bait and they had been frozen, sat out in the sun, and refrozen multiple times over!! He wanted to rush me to emergency but I was perfectly ok.

Commenter

ajax

Date and time

December 28, 2011, 3:40PM

That is hillarious!!

Commenter

PeterH

Location

Burleigh

Date and time

December 29, 2011, 10:32AM

OMG Ajax, I havnt laughed so hard in a long time, I can so Imagine your tucking away into your food and the look on your bf's face....priceless :)

Commenter

ozgal

Location

Mt Colah

Date and time

January 03, 2012, 4:03PM

great advice, waste is a pity but do not take risks with your health or someone you love. How would you feel if the poor soul who ate your suspect prawns got seriously ill. Industrial food processing adds a bunch of chemicals to food to essentially prevent the natural process of spoilage happening, in my opinion it is still best to buy fresh and chuck if necessary rather than risk the sometimes unspecified chemical attack you get with "tinned prawns"

Commenter

Lean Too

Location

Sydney

Date and time

December 28, 2011, 4:16PM

Am trying to figure out why anyone would a) buy pre-cut vegetables in a bag from a supermarket then b) freeze them and c) 6 months later microwave them.

In my experience ham will last for a lot longer than 4 or 5 days. You can go for 2 to 3 weeks provided you handle the ham properly.

Commenter

cx

Date and time

December 28, 2011, 4:35PM

If you saw how most prawns lived their terrible little lives then you'd think twice about putting them on the table. Let alone in your mouth. Drowning the little buggers with lemon chilli juice only disguises how truly disgusting and revolting they are. Dreadful creatures from so far down on the food chain they have zero manners and even less morals.

Commenter

Moo

Location

China

Date and time

December 28, 2011, 8:43PM

As a prawn I truly resent your comments! Zero manners and less morals??!!?? Compared to the human race, Prawns have it all over us. Let me guide you towards some people in white coats who will help you/lock you up.